Ronda Rousey: “I love fighting. It’s preserving something that’s real; that I think is trying to be crushed out of society.”

When UFC bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey walks down to the Octagon in February to defend her title against Liz Carmouche she will make the march with an intense scowl across her face stemming from pure focus on the task at hand. However, fans better believe a part of “Rowdy” Ronda in enjoying every second of the moment in anticipation of the scrap to come.

Rousey has no problem speaking about her passion for pugilism, recently revealing she felt it was a fundamental part of life that shouldn’t be shunned so much as embraced.

“People have been fighting each other for millennia. It’s part of human nature. The confusing thing is we now live in a society where it’s not illegal to be an asshole, but it’s illegal to slap one,” said Rousey in an interview with Esquire Magazine. “I love fighting. It’s preserving something that’s real; that I think is trying to be crushed out of society. And I think it’s the safest way that we can keep it. People need to hold on to their sanity somehow.”

The 25-year old walks the walk as well, picking up wins in all six of her professional fights with first-frame Armbars in each. It’s a technique she obviously knows well, sharpened by spending half of her life training judo.

“I’ve been arm-barred. I’ve been arm-barred and I let my arm be broken, and I didn’t tap, and I got out, and I still won that fight. F*ck ‘em. I don’t care. An Armbar isn’t the end for me,” explained Rousey. “The ligaments in both my elbows are so loose my arms just dislocate sometimes, just randomly. Because I’ve experienced it, I don’t fear it at all. It’s the people who haven’t been arm-barred who have that fear.”

“For me, MMA is like speed chess,” Rousey continued on her approach to competition. “It’s like I’m herding a person into a certain position. Say my endgame is an Armbar. I’m not gonna actually take you and put you there. What I’m going to do is convince you that it’s a good idea to move in the direction I want you to go. And I’m going to keep on funneling you down until you’ve been narrowed to the option of tap or not.”

The unbeaten Rousey will look to extend her impressive winning streak on February 23 against Carmouche at UFC 157. The bout not only marks the first female fight under the UFC banner and is the event’s headliner to boot.